ROCHDALE will be the fourth club Alan Buckley has managed and will hopefully provide the 52-year-old with a fifth promotion campaign.

Born in Mansfield, Buckley started his career his footballing life under the watchful eye of one of the all-time greats, Brian Clough, at Nottingham Forest in 1966.

After six years playing for "Old Big Head", he moved to Walsall for a spell which lasted until 1978. A year at Birmingham (1978-79) intervened before he returned to Fellows Park for a record fee of £175,000, becoming player manager. He hungs up his boots as the club's all-time scorer with 205 goals in all competitions.

His days on the sidelines with Walsall started well as Buckley guided them up from the old Fourth Division in his first season

There they stayed, until a takeover in 1986 signalled a move for the boss who opted for Conference side Kettering Town - guiding them to third in the table and a Conference Cup victory.

The following season saw Buckley join a Grimsby outfit with only seven players on the books and serious cash problems, but he proceeded to work miracles. A decent FA Cup run, which ended in the fifth round, boosted morale as The Mariners finished a remarkable ninth in the basement division.

The following two years bordered on the unbelievable for Town fans as their side gained successive promotions to reach the heady heights of the old Division Two, where they stayed for six years as it became Division One with the formation of the Premier League.

Buckley was head-hunted by West Brom in 1994 and helped stave off relegation. The next season the Baggies enjoyed their highest finish for 15 years.

He was released from his contract at the Hawthorns, though, in 1997 following ructions in the boardroom and returned to Grimsby to pick up the pieces after relegation to Division Two. The following year was a double triumph, with the Auto Windscreen Shield secured at Wembley and five weeks later the play-off final clinched at the famous old stadium.

But wrangling in the corridors of power meant Buckley lasted only two games of the 2000-2001 season and he had to wait until the following February to get back to work, when he took up the manager's office at Sincil Bank and successfully escaped the drop to the Conference with Lincoln.

Money troubles again haunted Buckley last year when the Red Imps were put into administration and he once again had to look for a new employer. That club is Rochdale and let's hope Alan can continue his fine record by taking Dale all the way next season.